The Associated Press
Andrew Seligman
CHICAGO–Javier Baez sensed he was ready to bust out of his slump and give the Chicago Cubs the lift they needed.
As breakthroughs go, this was a big one–just in time to keep the season going for the defending champs.
Baez snapped an 0-for-20 skid with two home runs, and Wade Davis hung on for a six-out save, as the Cubs avoided elimination by holding off the L.A. Dodgers 3-2 last night in Game 4 of the NL Championship Series.
“We have to be much more offensive,” stressed manager Joe Maddon. “It’s got to start happening tomorrow [Thursday].”
Baez finally got going with a pair of solo drives.
Jake Arrieta pitched three-hit ball into the seventh inning to help the Cubs close the series deficit to 3-1.
Maddon got ejected for the second time in this series in the eighth before a packed Wrigley Field crowd watched Davis get Cody Bellinger to ground into a game-ending double play.
Maddon was criticized heavily for not using Davis during a 4-1 loss in Game 2.
This time, the Cubs’ closer threw 48 pitches to finish the job.
Willson Contreras also homered for the Cubs.
Bellinger and Justin Turner connected for the Dodgers, who had won a team-record six-straight playoff games.
Game 5 goes today, with Jose Quintana pitching for Chicago against Dodgers’ ace Clayton Kershaw.
“They’re the world champs, and you know they’re going to fight to the end,” said Dodgers’ manager Dave Roberts.
“So today, they did. We got beat today.”
Baez hit solo drives in the second and fifth after going hitless in his first 20 playoff at-bats.
He had been watching videos and felt his timing was starting to come back in recent trips to the plate.
“I just need to take a step back and see what’s going on,” he noted.
Contreras added a long homer against Alex Wood.
Davis entered with a 3-1 lead in the eighth. He promptly gave up a lead-off homer to Turner, who went 2-for-2 and drew two walks.
Maddon became incensed that a swinging strike three against Curtis Granderson was ruled a foul after the umpires discussed the play.
Maddon got tossed but no damage was done as Granderson struck out swinging at the next pitch.
And after walking Yasmani Grandal to put runners on first and second, Davis struck out Chase Utley, who now is hitless in his last 24 post-season at-bats.
All seven of Chicago’s runs in this series have come on homers.
Contreras’ 491-foot homer banged off the left-field videoboard while Baez sent a towering drive out to left.
Bellinger cut it to 2-1 with his drive to right in the third.
But Baez got the lead back up to two with a shot to the left-field bleachers in the fifth–the raucous crowd chanting “Javy! Javy!” for the flashy young star who was co-MVP of the NLCS last year.
No Cubs player had hit two homers in a playoff game since Alex Gonzalez went deep twice in Game 2 of the 2003 NLCS against Miami.
Arrieta exited with runners on first and second in the seventh after walking Chris Taylor on a 3-2 pitch.
He tipped his hat as fans gave him a standing ovation–a fitting show of appreciation for a pitcher with an expiring contract.
“Hopefully, it’s not a goodbye, it’s a thank-you, obviously,” Arrieta said.
“I still intend to have another start in this ballpark,” he added.
“If that’s where it ends, I did my best and I left it all out there.”
“The only frustrating thing is we fell a run short,” Turner said. “We played a great game, they played a great game.
“They just hit one more ball over the fence than we did.”
